A time capsule of the greatest financial mania in the history of mankind, told in real-time by regular folks and patriots. May future generations better understand the madness of crowds, and how power and money corrupt.

June 03, 2008

Spent the last 16 hours on the train from Vienna to Amsterdam, heading out to enjoy the beautiful albeit a bit overcast day in Amsterdam. Travel tip for ya - I took the CityNightLine hotel train, where you get a room kinda like a cruise ship, with your own shower and dining area too. Trains folks are the way to go... One day America will wake up to that reality, maybe at $10 a gallon. How those airfares doing these days btw? Post some interesting housing stuff here (use tinyurl, keep it short), and I'll see what I missed and get back to it tomorrow. Any Amsterdam tips appreciated (keep it clean!)

26 comments:

Keith sez..."Trains folks are the way to go... One day America will wake up to that reality,..."--------------------------The reality is that many train routes have been ripped out, thanks to the "Rails to Trails" programs.

The train tracks are gone and they ain't coming back.

I hope the bozos who are responsible for this fiasco are enjoying their 30-mile one-way bike commute from their suburban McMansions to their downtown job in the pouring rain!

"We believe Congress should jump-start demand for new homes with an initiative that will bring buyers off the sidelines and into the market, and thereby stop the downward spiral of home prices," said Robert I. Toll, chairman and chief executive, in a statement. "Once home prices stabilize, Congress could then more successfully address mortgage issues; however, without stabilization of home prices, trying to address mortgage issues may be difficult at best."

http://tinyurl.com/5uvmyb

F#ck you very much Bob Toll, we'll get along just fine without you and the rest of the homebuilder scum...

Keith,Just chiming in to say that I agree with you on train travel. When I visit the Northeast U.S., where we actually have a decent rail system, I love taking the train between cities. Europe is pure heaven for trains.

We have limited passenger train availability here in Texas, but it takes 6 hours to ride from Austin to Dallas due to all the small town stops it makes, whereas you can drive the same distance in 3 hours. Therefore, to travel between cities for a business meeting, rail is not a viable option. Metroplex-wide commuter rail in the south is simply a joke.

Amsterdam...Rent a bike first thing.Get the Time Out guide to see what's going on.Go to the Van Gogh museum early in the day - it gets packed.Go to the Stedelijk modern art museum next to the Van Gogh - much more interesting than the Van Gogh if art is your thing. Spend very little time in the Rijkmuseum -check out the Night Watch if you must, but the rest is boring.Check out the big central park near the Leidseplein on a nice day. Eat some Indonesian food - it's their equivalent to Chinese food (it's a holdover from their imperialism).Bring an umbrella, it will probably rain at some point.Check out the Melkweg (Milky Way) and Paradiso clubs near the Leidseplein for fun things to do at night. Global Chillage is one of the better local, cough, cough, "coffee shops" if that is your thing.Take in all the cool design elements of the city.Try some of the chocolates at the local street market behind the Heineken museum.Enjoy.

Robert Precter (not sure of spelling...the Elliot Wave gloom and doom guy) wrote a few years ago that America would have tons more railroad capacity and canals if the feds hadn't started the massive amount of highway building to subsidize the auto and oil industries back in the 1950s. You get what you pay for, and our government started paying big time to build just what the auto and oil industries needed.